Question

Attempt any one question from Q. 11 (a) or Q. 11 (b) : (in about 150 words)
Gulliver's Travels
(a) Describe some activities performed at the royal court for amusement.
OR
(a) Write a note on Gulliver's attitude to human race in Part II of the novel.
Three Men in a Boat
(b) Describe how J. and a young lady—cousin on his mother's side—lost their way once and reached late for supper when they were on the river.
OR
(b) Give a brief character sketch of Uncle Podger.

Answer 1

Gulliver’s Travels
(a) Some of the activities of the Lilliputians amused and entertained him very much. One such activity was rope-dancing. It was performed by those candidates who were desirous of taking up high offices at the imperial court. In rope-dancing, the candidates were asked to dance on a rope. Whosoever jumped the highest without falling was given a high office. Many times the emperor would ask the chief minister or high officers to display their skills. For example, once Filmnap, the treasurer, was asked to dance on a tight rope and display his superiority over others. Another activity performed by the Lilliputians to gain high offices was leaping over sticks which the emperor held. Anyone who performed this activity, was awarded a blue co-loured silken thread. The man who stood second was given a red thread and the man who stood third was given a green thread. The winner wore these threads as marks of hon our.
OR
(a) Gulliver feels highly disgusted with the physical coarseness and foul smells of the people of Brobdingnag. The sight of the naked bodies of the maids of honor falls on him with horror and disgust. But he does not realize that they are only a magnified image of the members of human species. The sight of a woman with huge breast suckling her child is awful to him. Similarly, the sight of beggars suffering from various terrible disease is shocking to him. But Gulliver does not realize that these sights and smells are similar to those experienced in a European country though on a reduced scale. On the contrary, he defends the human race. He feels proud of his country and his race. It is the king of Brobdingnag who deflates Gulliver by calling human beings. “the most pernicious race of little, odious vermins that nature ever suffered to crawl upon the surface of the earth.”
Three Men in a Boat
 (b) J. recollects how he and his cousin on his mother's side were once up the river. They were pulling down to Goring. They reached Benson's lock late. It was half past six. The lady wanted. to be in for the supper at the earliest. J. looked at the map and found that Wallingford lock was just a mile and a half and then they wanted to go to Cleeve. They had to cross two more locks on way back home. But they passed the bridge and didn't see any lock. The river stretched out straight before them. The lady began to cry. J. looked at the map again. There was Wallingford lock clearly marked, a mile and a half below Benson's. But he felt it like a dream. He went on pulling but no lock came in sight. The river grew dark and mysterious. Luckily, he heard some blessed voices and saw some good people in a boat. When asked they told him that Wallingford lock had been done away for over a year. They were close to Cleeve. J. thanked them and they were in time for supper.
OR
(b) UncIe Podger’s character is unique in its own kind. He is a man who is ready to take the burden of everything upon himself. But he puts it on the back of other people. And in doing things on his own, he makes a mess of everything. Uncle Podger is a man of utter forgetfulness. He needs his handkerchief and knows that it is in his coat’s pocket. He sits on the coat and calls for the handkerchief. Then Uncle Podger is incapable of planning and understanding what and when he wants. He can be called the man who is mindless of what he needs and what he does. He seems to be a man who wants to be boss over other persons, yet doesn’t know how to be boss. He rouses the whole house up when he hangs a picture. He sends the girl to buy nails and sends another boy after her to tell her the size. Then, he drops the hammer and the nail. He confuses the measurement of the space where the picture is to be hung. In a way, Uncle Podger makes a furore in the house even when it is never required.
Uncle Podger is a lovable character despite all the foibles. His attempts to hang a picture present him as a clumsy, fussy old man. The way he rebukes others and the way he goes about the job is a source of great humor.
He is a man of spirit who wants to complete his job honestly. But he is an impatient person also who grunts at the other family members.